This invention is directed to a spray rig monitoring system and more particularly a spray rig monitoring system where monitoring and analysis occur in real time.
Spray rigs are well known in the art for spraying foam or a coating on a surface. Typically spray rigs are manually operated where a pair of spray components are mixed and sprayed on a surface so that a chemical reaction between the spray components occurs that results in a final product.
To produce a final product that meets required specification spray rig performance is critical. The primary obstacles to proper installation of the final product are the ratio between the spray components, the pressure of the spray components, and the temperature of the spray components.
When a final product is installed off ratio where there is an excess of one of the spray components, or if the product is sprayed at incorrect temperatures or pressures, whether too high or too low, the resulting final product likely will not cure and the desired characteristics of the final product will not be achieved. It may also have a strong lingering odor as the raw chemicals leach or off-gas out of the product and can build up excessive heat that can cause charring or sometimes fire. It may also have cell structure that is too large or too small, and a density that is too high or too low. As a result, the final product will not achieve the correct R-value (insulating value), vapor permeance, tensile or compressive strength and the like. The final product also could experience charring, shrinking, poor yield, and poor dimensional stability. Worse, it may cause fire, or leach or off-gas hazardous vapors into the immediate surrounding area harmful to humans
Presently, determining a proper ratio of spray components in the field is difficult to figure. To do so operators attempt extrapolate volumetric ratio by measuring pressure of individual components within the system while taking into account the viscosity of the individual components. The failsafe process for operators to confirm the production of an acceptable final product is to measure the density of the final product. If the final product does not meet required specifications, the final product must be torn out and re-sprayed. This process can only be performed on a small sample percentage of the total finished product for any given project and cannot reliably provide confirmation of acceptable product throughout the entire production process. Accordingly there exists a need in the art for a monitoring system that addresses these deficiencies.
As such, an objective of the present invention is to provide a spray rig monitoring system that more accurately monitors spray component ratio, temperature, ambient temp, RH %, and barometric pressure.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a spray rig monitoring system that monitors operational parameters of a spray rig in real time.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a spray rig monitoring system that provides notification to an operator when operational parameters exceed preset thresholds.
These are other objectives will be apparent to those skilled in the art based upon the following written description, drawings, and claims.